Georgian riot police and protesters clash (VIDEOS)
Riot police have deployed water cannons against the increasingly violent pro-EU protests in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi on Friday, now more than a week into the unrest.
The anti-government upheaval was sparked when the South Caucasus nation’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced Georgia would suspend membership talks with the bloc until 2028, citing “blackmail and manipulation” from EU officials.
The bloc has since imposed personal sanctions against members of the Georgian government.
Protesters could be seen using green lasers aimed at police officers’ eyes, throwing trash at and kicking members of law enforcement. Riot police retaliated by forming ranks and setting up a shield wall.
In another footage, riot police could be seen arresting a man. A protester could be seen taking a run up and drop kicking one of the officers. One of the police officers can be seen using pepper spray to keep an advancing crowd of protesters at bay.
Riot control vehicles could be seen using water cannons, prompting protesters to fall back.
Pro-EU demonstrators have been butting heads with law enforcement since last week, setting off fireworks and throwing Molotov cocktails at riot police, in violent clashes in which hundreds have reportedly been arrested.
The Georgian PM has described the protests as trying to stage a “Maidan,” referring to the Western-backed coup that toppled the Ukrainian government in 2014.
“The Georgian state is stronger than ever, and no blackmail can undermine it,” Kobakhidze said at a meeting on Friday, accusing political opposition forces of “staging an imitation of war” in Tbilisi.
Multiple countries have either sanctioned or threatened to sanction Georgia over the ongoing protests. On Wednesday, the US State Department condemned Tbilisi’s reaction to the protests, stating that the US is preparing to use “additional sanctions,” in response. Some EU nations have imposed personal sanctions against Georgian government officials in the wake of the demonstrations.
Protests have taken place since Kobakhidze’s party Georgian Dream secured a majority in the country’s parliament.
The opposition, including outgoing President Salome Zourabichvili have refused to recognize the results, claiming the election was rigged despite international observers finding no significant infractions. Zourabichvili, a career diplomat for Paris who acquired Georgian citizenship in her 50s, called on Georgia’s schools to join the protests earlier this week.
